NORTH CANTON, Ohio – The Walsh Cavaliers men's basketball team will gear up for the Great Midwest Tournament with three of the final four games at Alumni Arena, starting this week. The Cavaliers will look to avenge an early season loss to Trevecca Nazarene on Thursday (Feb. 14) at 7:30 PM. The Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers will enter Alumni Arena for a Saturday (Feb. 16) matchup at 3:00 PM.
GAMEDAY INFO
- Live Stats/Video (Trevecca)
- Game Notes (Trevecca)
- Live Stats/Video (Kentucky Wesleyan)
- Game Notes (Kentucky Wesleyan)
With the Cavaliers joining the G-MAC last season, the series history with Trevecca and Kentucky Wesleyan is quite short. Both teams have faced off just three times with the Maroon and Gold. Walsh is 2-1 overall against the Trojans with Trevecca winning the first season this season 67-63. JT Shumate scored 21 points in the loss in Nashville. Walsh is 3-0 against Kentucky Wesleyan on the other hand, winning the December contest 61-60 on a late Darryl Straughter shot. He scored a game-high 23 points for the Cavaliers.
WALSH NOTES
- Walsh clinched a G-MAC tournament berth with an 81-74 win over Alderson Broaddus on Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers have won six straight games and now are 17-7 overall and 12-4 in the conference.
- JT Shumate scored a career-high 37 points as he went 13-of-18 from the floor with eight free throws. He was named G-MAC Athlete of the Week for the third time this season after averaging 26 points per game and shooting 71.4% overall in two games. Overall, he is second in the conference with 18.8 points a game. He is shooting 52.4% from the floor and shooting 43.5% from three-point land, fifth and third, respectively.
- Darryl Straughter added 18 points on four threes and six free throws along with a career-high six assists. For the season, he averages 15.4 points per game and leads the G-MAC with 72 threes this season in 33.0 minutes per game.
- Sterling Christy contributed 14 points and eight rebounds to the Cavaliers' winning effort. He is just shy of a double-double, averaging 13.4 points and 9.7 rebounds. He is second in the conference with 9.7 per game. Total, he is first in the G-MAC and 11th in D2 with 233.
- The team shot 51.4% from the floor, shooting above 50% for the fifth straight game. Overall for the year, the Cavaliers are 10-0 when they shoot over 50% in a game.
- Walsh leads the conference and is eighth in D2 in both three pointers made and attempted. This season, Walsh is 262-of-689, shooting 38.0% overall.
- The team leads the conference in the following total categories: three pointers made and attempted, rebounds (954) and defensive rebounds (715).
- With four games left in the regular season, Walsh is 1-3 against the teams remaining. The opponents have an overall record of 36-48 and a G-MAC mark of 24-34. Right now, Walsh is the #3 seed in the G-MAC Tournament and would host Ohio Dominican in the quarterfinals.
TREVECCA NAZARENE NOTES
- Trevecca is 2-17 overall and 2-12 in the G-MAC this season after a 70-57 loss to Cedarville. The Trojans have lost eight straight games twice this year.
- The Trojans are 0-10 away from Nashville this season.
- Evan Ragsdale is the leading scorer with 11.2 points per game.
- Reed Smith leads the team with 80 rebounds this season.
- Trevecca averages 57.9 points per game but is third in the conference with 9.8 three pointers made per game.
KENTUCKY WESLEYAN NOTES
- The Panthers enter a matchup at Malone 7-13 overall and 5-9 in the conference. The team has lost five straight, including an 85-81 loss at home against Tiffin.
- Adam Goetz is the team's leading scorer with 14.8 points per game. He is third in the conference with an 85% free throw percentage and is sixth in minutes per game (32.5).
- Mohamed Abu Arisha averages 11.9 points and eight rebounds a game. His rebounds per game total ranks seventh in the conference.
- Deng Mayot is third on the team with 10.8 points per game.
TEAM COMPARISON
| Walsh | Trevecca Nazarene | Kentucky Wesleyan | ||||
| Category | Rank | Rank | Rank | |||
| Scoring Offense | 79.6 | 3rd | 57.9 | 13th | 67.4 | 12th |
| Scoring Defense | 66.5 | 2nd | 79.7 | 10th | 69.1 | 4th |
| Scoring Margin | 13.1 | 2nd | -21.8 | 13th | -1.6 | 9th |
| Free Throw % | 62.4% | 13th | 71.8% | 5th | 72.5% | 4th |
| Field Goal % | 46.5% | 5th | 41.1% | 13th | 43.3% | 10th |
| Field Goal % Defense | 40.3% | 1st | 47.8% | 12th | 43.2% | 4th |
| 3 Point % | 38.0% | 4th | 34.7% | T-9th | 36.4% | 6th |
| 3 Point Defense % | 32.7% | 2nd | 37.7% | 11th | 32.5% | 1st |
| 3 Point FG Made | 10.9 | 1st | 9.8 | 3rd | 10.2 | 2nd |
| Rebounding Offense | 39.8 | 3rd | 26.9 | 13th | 33.1 | 11th |
| Rebounding Defense | 34.8 | 6th | 39.1 | 12th | 32 | 2nd |
| Rebounding Margin | 5.00 | 3rd | -12.2 | 13th | 1.1 | 7th |
| Blocked Shots | 3.8 | 2nd | 0.6 | 13th | 1.7 | T-11th |
| Assists | 16 | T-3rd | 12.9 | 10th | 16 | T-3rd |
| Steals | 5.7 | 10th | 4.2 | 12th | 4.1 | 13th |
| Turnover Margin | 1.17 | 5th | -3.84 | 12th | -2.95 | 10th |
| Assist/Turnover Ratio | 1.6 | T-1st | 0.8 | T-11th | 1.2 | T-6th |
| Offensive Rebounds | 10 | T-6th | 3.3 | 13th | 7.7 | 11th |
| Defensive Rebounds | 29.8 | T-1st | 23.6 | 13th | 25.5 | 9th |
AROUND THE LEAGUE
| Thursday 2/14/19 | Saturday 2/16/19 |
| Ohio Valley @ Davis & Elkins | Hillsdale @ Lake Erie |
| Ohio Dominican @ Alderson Broaddus | Davis & Elkins @ Ohio Dominican |
| Findlay @ Lake Erie | Kentucky Wesleyan @ Walsh |
| Trevecca Nazarene @ Walsh | Ohio Valley @ Alderson Broaddus |
| Kentucky Wesleyan @ Malone | Tiffin @ Cedarville |
| Trevecca Nazarene @ Malone |
The Cavaliers will travel across town to Malone for the Mayor's Cup battle next Saturday (Feb. 23).
-WC-